Daily Archives: 5 August, 2010

Torneo Virgen Blanca: Memorial Ogueta de Pelota a Mano-Trofeo El Correo 2010

Vitoria-Gasteiz’s most important festival commenced yesterday, as the ‘bajada del Celedón’, a life-size doll dressed in the traditional costume of Alava, descended from the bell tower of the Church of San Miguel to the balcony of a house in the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca. This traditional opening heralds five days of festivities, including processions, music, dance and shows, and some of the Basque Country’s top pelotaris will be in town to play their part.

The Virgen Blanca pairs tournament kicks off tonight when Manomanista Champion Juan Martinez de Irujo teams up with Ruben Beloki to play Pablo Berasaluze and Alexis Apraiz for a place in the semi finals. The other three semi final pairs are already in place, and the winners of tonight’s game know they will face the attractive partnership of Xala and Barriola to fight for a place in the final, which will be held on Monday. There are some attractive matches among the curtain raisers too, notably tonight’s mano a mano encounter between two young players in their first professional seasons.

The fixtures, all of which can be seen on ETB-Sat, are listed below. I will bring you the schedules for Monday when they are available.

Thursday 5th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

22:35 (CEST) LEMUNO v ALBISU

23:35 (CEST) MARTINEZ DE IRUJO – BELOKI v BERASALUZE VIII – APRAIZ

Friday 6th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

22:35 (CEST) MERINO II v LADIS GALARZA

23:35 (CEST) TITIN III – ZUBIETA v BENGOETXEA VI – BEGINO Semi Final

Saturday 7th August, Vitoria-Gasteiz

22:20 (CEST) MENDIZABAL – OTEIZA v CABRERIZO II – MERINO I

23:25 (CEST) XALA – BARRIOLA v Winners of the game on 5th August Semi Final

 To watch, go to https://www.eitb.eus/television/etb-sat/en-directo/

Bengoetxea VI and Patxi Ruiz take San Fermin crown

My blog was out of action for a while, and then there was a Tour de France related hiatus on my part, so my report of the San Fermin Pairs Final rather fell by the wayside. However, belatedly, I can report that the showpiece was won by Asegarce pair Oinatz Bengoetxea and Patxi Ruiz, who defeated Titin and Inigo Pascual in a surprisingly one sided final. The 22-12 scoreline was an accurate reflection of a game in which the Aspe duo never really gained a foothold, in the face of some quick-witted, inventive and brutally accurate play from Bengoetxea, who looked better than he has all year. Ruiz too appeared a pelotari reborn, offering sterling support to his forward partner, who struck nine winners on the way to a compherensive win. The pair looked justly delighted, revelling in their success and also no doubt the party atmosphere of the final night of the great Pamplona festival.

EiTB has a video summary of the match here

Success for Oinatz and Patxi

Success for Oinatz and Patxi

Image from: Noticias de Alava, by Patxi Cascante